In March 2009 debt relief orders were introduced on the back of 2007 Parliament legislation as new form of bankruptcy to the UK. They were designed as simpler forms of insolvency for those with few assets, and relatively low debt levels. Some have questioned whether the qualifications for Debt Release Orders would mean that only a limited number of people struggling with debt issues will qualify for DROs.

It was set up to be an alternative to bankruptcy, individual voluntary arrangements and debt management plans. The aim is to create another debt solution which is quicker, more manageable and cheaper to roll out than the debt arrangements in the market place.

To qualify for a Debt Relief Order you must have a debts which you cannot pay, limited disposable income of less than 50 per month , less than 300 of assets (including houses), and no more than 15,000 of debt.

DROs can only be completed by an appointed government bodies, these are limited to 5 registered charitable agencies and a commercial debt Management Company. Currently there are no plans to for government to appoint anyone else.

A debtor needs to pay 90 to initiate a debt relief order, and then the official receiver will process this without involving the courts.

When a person is in a DRO they are free from enforcement actions from the creditors and will be free from their debts at the end of a 12 month period. However they are expected to comply with all requests from the official receiver, are expected to pay their creditors if their financial situations improve within the life of the DRO.

A DRO will be published on the insolvency service website, and will have an detrimental effect on a debtors credit status for a protracted period of time after the debt relief order has been completed.